Eighteen Treatises from the Mishna, by D. A. Sola and M. J. Raphall, [1843], at sacred-texts.com

CHAPTER XII.

§ 1. He that marries a woman, who stipulates that he is to maintain her daughter [by a former husband] five years, is bound to maintain her during the five years. [If he divorces his wife, and] she marries another man, with whom she likewise stipulates that he is to maintain her daughter five years, he is [also] bound to maintain her during the five years. The first husband is not entitled to say, "When she comes to me I will maintain her," but he must bring her maintenance to the place where she is with her mother. Neither are the two husbands at liberty to say, "We will jointly maintain her," but the one must maintain her, and the other give her the value of her maintenance in money.

§ 2. Should she [the daughter spoken of in the preceding Mishna] marry [during the stipulated period of five years], her husband furnishes her maintenance, and they [her mother's two husbands] must give her the amount of her maintenance in money. Should they die, their own daughters are maintained out of their unencumbered property. whilst she must be maintained [even] out of their encumbered [alienated] property, because she is [possessed of the same rights] as a [mortgage] creditor. Prudent men stipulated, 1 "On condition that I maintain thy daughter during five years, provided thou art living with me."

§ 3. Should a widow declare, "I will not remove from my husband's house," the heirs cannot say to her, "Depart to thy father's house and we will there maintain thee;" but they must maintain her in her husband's house, and provide her a dwelling in accordance with her dignity [rank and station in society]. 2 Should she declare, "I will not remove from my father's house," the heirs may reply, "While thou art with us thou shalt have thy maintenance, but if thou art not with us, thou shalt not have thy maintenance." Should she object to this, because she herself is young, and the heirs

likewise are young, they are bound to furnish her maintenance, and she continues in her father's house.

§ 4. While she continues in her father's house, 3 she is entitled at any time to claim [the amount of] her Ketubah: but if she remained in her husband's house [she is entitled to claim it only during] twenty-five years; for in the twenty-five years she will have done [herself] good, 4 [derived benefits] equal to [the amount of] her Ketubah. Such is the dictum of R. Meir, which he advanced on the authority of R. Simeon ben Gamaliel; but the sages hold, "As long as she remains in her husband's house, she is entitled at any time to claim her Ketubah; as long as she remains in her father's house, she is entitled to claim her Ketubah [only during] twenty-five years. If she dies, her heirs can claim [the amount of] her Ketubah [only] before the expiration of the twenty-five years."

Footnotes

273:2 This comprises the use of the furniture and utensils which she had been in the habit of using during the lifetime of her husband, and also the services of the male and female domestics, to whose attendance she is accustomed.

274:4 The text has ‏שתעשה טובה‎ "she will have done good." Some commentators interpret, "that she will have done good to the poor," others "that she will have treated her neighbours and visitors to an amount equal to her Ketubah." Jost, in his translation, has adopted their rendering; we have, however, preferred adopting the simple wording of the text.